The Road Beyond
by Nuclear Phantom
Summary: The arcade is changed forever when Litwak plugs in a new version of TurboTime, TurboTime X. Boasting HD graphics, multiple racers and wild tracks, it's a very different game from the original. One thing remains the same: it has a Turbo. Someone has to help him fit in, but the memories of the old Turbo linger – and maybe more than just memories...
1. Chapter 1

Stanley Litwak had not been nervous about a game for a long time. He told himself he was being ridiculous. The game in front of him was a brand new release, and had received praise from all the top reviewers. He couldn't deny that it looked impressive. There were two linked cabs, their monitors showing seven cars blasting around a brightly-lit stadium, a red car in the lead with a blue car tailing and a black car coming up the inside. Each car was sleek, aerodynamic and moved wickedly fast. The cars shot past cheering crowds, the camera panning dramatically over them before it moved upwards, showcasing the city beyond. The camera cut again, this time showing the red car hurtling towards it. Its lights flashed and the screen turned white, then black. An X faded into view, followed by the rest of the game's title:

_TurboTime X._

It was a franchise reboot, or so he'd been told. It had been made because the original's programmer had returned to the company at a time when they were desperate for ideas; so desperate, even resurrecting a thirty-year-old franchise seemed worth a shot. The 1980 original had become a rarity, like so many games from its era, remembered only by Litwak and his most die-hard customers. Litwak still had fond memories of the players it had brought – it had done _so much_ for his arcade, which was what motivated him to buy the new one – but the one memory that stuck out the most was of that day in 1987...

He shuddered and forced himself to look around the arcade to remind himself that his games were working as they were supposed to. Pac-Man was in his maze, Ralph was wrecking Niceland while Felix fixed it, and the _Sugar Rush _racers were zooming around one of their game's tracks, Vanellope and Taffyta fighting for the lead. Everything was normal. All of the characters were where they were meant to be. _TurboTime X _would be no different.

Reassured, Litwak sat down and ran his hands along the steering wheel and gauges. The days of stand-up racing cabs were long gone; like _Sugar Rush_, which was opposite the new game, you had to sit to play. Litwak rooted around in his pockets for money. Ignoring his feelings about the old _TurboTime _and his memories of _Roadblasters_, he found the right coins and put them in.

The theme music came pumping out, energetic and upbeat, Litwak recognising the first few bars from the original game's theme. There were two modes to choose from: Stadium and Street. Stadium Mode involved fast, streamlined racing with some powers and cars unavailable, while Street Mode involved action-packed racing around the game's city, with more powers available, but Stadium's cars were not. Litwak chose Stadium Mode. All seven racers were playable, but he'd already decided who he was going to be.

The Turbo of 2013 was...well, Litwak couldn't think of any way to put it other than 'human'. Unlike his stout, chubby predecessor, he was tall and toned, with realistic proportions aside from his four-fingered hands. His skin was pale, though nowhere near grey. His hair was dark brown, short but very stylish, and his irises were yellow as a nod to his original sprite. There was a large red T on his torso, the prongs covering his chest and his shoulders. The sides of his torso and his upper arms were white, but his forearms were red, as were his gloves. The undersides of his gloves were white and the backs of his gloves had white Xs on them. His waist and legs were red, as were his shoes. There was a small cutscene that showed the racers in their cars before the race began; his helmet was the modern kind, covering the whole of his face. His visor was black, while his helmet was mostly white except for the red T above his visor.

Litwak slammed the pedal and tried his hardest to keep up with the other six cars, but his unfamiliarity with the game meant he crashed and came last. On his following attempts, he fared slightly better. He grew more familiar with the game, learning the layouts of each track and the strengths of his car. He kept the wheel steady and surged ahead of other racers, overtaking the yellow and the blue cars, then the black car to win. A fanfare played from the speakers as Turbo was handed his trophy by an NPC. He held it up high with one hand, a wicked grin on his face, and gave Litwak the thumbs up with the other.

The phone in Litwak's office rang, so he left the game there. Had he turned around, he would have seen the new Turbo lean against the screen and watch him leave with a smirk on his lips. He turned towards _Sugar Rush, _where Vanellope von Schweetz was in the middle of her own victory celebration. However, instead of sticking her fist out, she pressed her hands against the screen, her eyes widening as she looked from the new Turbo to the title of his game. The new Turbo tilted his head, puzzled by her. Vanellope looked back at him as if she was having trouble deciding he was real. The new Turbo's attention drifted towards the trophy in her hand. Vanellope saw the trophy in his. The new Turbo chuckled, then lifted his hand and gave her a small wave. Vanellope, still looking hopelessly confused, managed a half-wave back.

It was then Litwak walked out of his office, causing both games to cut abruptly to their title screens. He stopped in front of _TurboTime X_ and looked at it one final time.

"I hope you do for this place what the old one did. Just promise me you aren't gonna _leave_ this place like the old one did."

He opened the doors to his arcade and greeted his customers with a warm smile. "Good to see ya, kids! Hey Travis, hey Connor, hey Suzy. Say, you kids oughta check out the game that's just come in. I can guarantee ya it'll be _turbotastic_!"

XXX

_Author's Note: Uh, yeah. So, where did this come from? Well, it's an idea I really want to work with, so I'm putting it up even though progress on this shall be EXTREMELY SLOW. And I mean it. I have a lot of work to do and will write this only when I have the time free... (And yes, dears, I know there is only one true Turbo and he ain't some pretty-boy. Bear with me.) Better descriptions of X-Turbo, his world and its gameplay will come, though. I want to save that.  
_


	2. Chapter 2

Vanellope was in a whirlwind of emotions as Ralph handed her a 'Feel Better' root beer. She drank it gratefully and didn't stop until she'd reached the bottom of the glass. She put the empty glass down and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Her nerves had stopped jangling, but inside she still felt anxious and shaken, and Ralph could tell. She knew he felt similarly, because he wasn't smiling or joking like he usually did, and his eyebrows were knitted together as if he was going over something in his mind.

"I sure didn't expect it," Vanellope said at last.

Ralph sighed.

"It's a shock, kid, no one can argue that. Believe me, when I saw Litwak bring the game in, I thought I'd been dropped off the building too many times and was seeing things. You should've seen Felix's reaction, though; Mary asked him what its name was and he shouted '_TurboTime_' and nearly missed a ledge, the poor guy!"

_TurboTime X_'s arrival had shocked the entire arcade, not just _Sugar Rush_ and _Fix-It Felix Junior_. Game Central had been buzzing about it when Vanellope left her game, and _Tapper_ was not much better. There were a number of characters hanging around, but despite the variation of avatars, bad guys and NPCs, there was only one topic on everyone's lips:

"You think he'll be anything like the old one?" the Sorceress asked _Burger Time_'s chef, Peter Pepper.

"What, you mean a game-stealing murderer?" the chef replied with a sceptical frown. "Geez, after one day of being alive, I certainly hope not."

"Yeah, I think it's a bit much to expect him to be like _that_," Tapper said as he refilled their glasses. "Took the old one seven years to turn out that way, though I admit I wasn't there in the beginning." As he spoke, he looked towards Pac-Man, the only character in the bar who _had_ been there when the arcade opened alongside the original_ TurboTime_. The dot-muncher looked down, clearly uncomfortable with the subject, but when he saw the whole bar looking at him, including Vanellope and Ralph, he had no choice but to say something:

"Well, back in 1980 our two games were the biggest crowd-pleasers, so we always had this kind of rivalry going. It wasn't much – at least, I never thought it was, 'cause it was just banter and the occasional threat he never followed up on. I never took him seriously, but he was always cocky, yeah. And we all know where _that _led him. If I were you, I'd be cautious about the new Turbo, but don't judge him by the old one's actions. You could at least have the courtesy to judge him by his own."

Vanellope hadn't seen the new Turbo again, at least not face-to-face, but she'd had a hard time forgetting that moment. The initial shock had stirred up all the memories she'd worked so hard to forget. She'd thrown herself into her racing to try and keep them away, but it hadn't worked completely; when she'd reached the ice cream mountains she'd had flashbacks to the old Turbo ramming her and had almost lost control. Sour Bill had even pulled her aside and asked her what was wrong. She'd told him there was another Turbo, and his own eyes had widened and it was _his_ turn to be confused. The other racers had mixed feelings about it. Some were curious, some were afraid, some had wanted to avoid talking about it altogether.

"You okay, kid?"

Ralph's concerned voice brought her back to reality.

"I'm fine, Ralph. It's just..."

She told him everything about her cross-screen encounter with the new Turbo. "I only waved 'cause I didn't know what else to do," she concluded, shuffling nervously. She looked up at Ralph with uncertainty in her eyes. "He wasn't waving in a way that was all 'yeah, I'm pretending to be nice but I'm gonna get you for winning like I do,' right? He _was_ being nice, right?"

Ralph thought about how to answer, then nodded slowly.

"Yeah, he probably was," he said as reassuringly as he could. "I mean, I get that he's _Turbo_, but just 'cause they're the same character doesn't mean they're same _guy_, y'know? Maybe he was waving 'cause he wanted to say hi, 'cause you were the first character from another game he saw. He doesn't know that his eighties-self was a psycho who messed your game up, after all." His thoughts deepened, lines appearing on his forehead. "Besides, like Pepper said, it'd be crazy to think _he'd_ be a jealous whacko after only a day. Or at all, really. Can't believe I'm agreeing with Pac-Man, but judging the guy by the other Turbo's actions doesn't feel right. Could be that he's just a regular guy with a crazy ancestor. We won't know for sure 'til we meet him, though..."

Vanellope _wanted_ the new Turbo to be a regular guy with a crazy ancestor. She realised it was probably a bit much to expect him to be just as crazy, so she relaxed, but only slightly, because her memories of the old Turbo were still flitting through her head. She had to focus very hard on a nearby napkin to stop herself thinking about that horrible moment when King Candy had glitched and become something else.

They both stood up to leave _Tapper. _Ralph picked her up and put her on his shoulder, knowing she felt safer and more comfortable there. They walked out of _Tapper_'s outlet and headed towards _Fix-It Felix Junior._ _TurboTime X _was plugged in to the left of _Felix_. Ralph suddenly looked at Vanellope, deathly and uncharacteristically serious.

"But listen, if he _does_ turn out to be a whacko like the old Turbo, I'll make sure he stays away from you, you can count on that. Between me, Felix and Calhoun, you've got no one to be afraid of."

Vanellope brightened. Knowing she had friends to protect her made her feel a thousand times better.

"Thanks, Ralph," she said. "But I'm kinda hoping that's one of the ways him and the old Turbo will be different."

"Me too," Ralph replied. "But we'll find out for ourselves when he leaves his game. Until that happens, you just hold your head high and be a winner, okay? You've got nothing to worry about with me around."

She nodded with more enthusiasm than she'd had before. This seemed to make Ralph feel better, because he smiled. "Alright, let's get outta here, Baroness Boogerface. Mary's baking pies, and I can smell 'em from here!"

Vanellope jumped excitedly.

"I bet I can eat more than you!"

"Oh yeah? Bring it on!"

They went back to Niceland and spent the rest of the night there. Vanellope ate pies until her stomach couldn't fit anymore, but Ralph still beat her by a landslide. Despite this, she returned to _Sugar Rush _with a smile on her face (and breath that smelled of pie). She felt a little bit anxious. Only a little. She focused as hard as she could on her racing to forget about the new _TurboTime,_ and whenever she won, she looked at either her player's face or _Fix-It Felix Junior_. That was how she coped for the remainder of the week. In that time, some of _TurboTime X_'s citizens emerged and made contact with Game Central, though none of the racers did. The citizens were met with questions about the new Turbo and his personality. Their responses were always some variation of 'he's a brilliant racer, talks a lot, but he seems like an okay guy'. These answers calmed some of the cynics, although not all of them. Vanellope didn't know quite what to make of it anymore, so she tried even harder to forget the new game was there.

Another week passed. There was still no contact from the _X_-racers, but they weren't even on Vanellope's mind as she reached the end of the Roster Race. She tore down the final stretch of the Royal Raceway, gripping the wheel tight as she approached the finish line. She glimpsed Ralph in the crowd, cheering her on. Taffyta and Rancis were behind her, but she wasn't about to let them win. She looked in her mirror and saw Taffyta had a Sweet Seeker loaded. Her finger edged towards the trigger.

Vanellope hit the breaks, allowing Rancis and Taffyta to both rush ahead of her. Taffyta fired the Sweet Seeker and knocked Rancis skywards. Vanellope floored the accelerator, coming up behind her, but it looked like Taffyta was home free. Not quite. Vanellope had been saving her special power for a moment like this. She activated her glitch and the world blurred as she teleported ahead of Taffyta and across the finish line. A massive cheer went up as she her image was added to the roster board. She pulled over and waved gleefully to her fans.

Then someone laughed.

Vanellope stiffened. That wasn't Ralph's laugh. It wasn't Felix or Calhoun's laugh. She turned around and almost yelped in surprise.

The new Turbo was leaning against the stands.

XXX

_Author's Notes: I apologise to anyone who got an alert about Chapter 2 but wasn't able to find it. I uploaded the wrong document and haven't been able to get the right one up until now._


	3. Chapter 3

Vanellope climbed out of her kart, never taking her eyes off him. He had one hand over his face, hiding his expression from her, but it slowly slid down and she heard him say 'that is one screwed up coincidence'. What was a coincidence? Her winning again? Her chest rose indignantly and her fists clenched. She wasn't so afraid of him in her own game. Seeing him there was a bit surreal, and had been a shock when she'd turned around, but there was no way she was going to let him walk into her game and insult her, if that was what he was there for. Unless he wasn't... Come to think of it, his laugh hadn't sounded like the amused kind. It had sounded bitter, as if something had shocked him so badly his only defence was to laugh at it. She remembered everything she'd talked to Ralph about not judging him and tried to relax.

He saw her watching him, and it looked like he was deep in thought. He slowly looked her up and down. She waited to see how he'd respond.

Then, X-Turbo broke into a smile that didn't seem malicious. The light in his eyes was friendly as he walked over to her.

"Hey, good to see you again." His voice wasn't like King Candy's, much. It was deeper and there was no trace of a lisp. "Nice work pulling it back, there. Not gonna lie, I was wanting you to win like you did before, so I'm glad you did. Almost thought you were out of it when you got hit by that gumball, though. Good job getting back from that."

"Um, thanks mister," Vanellope said, trying to ignore how strange it was to be complimented by him. He seemed genuine, and even a little impressed that she'd survived the gumball. Maybe he wasn't so bad, after all? The only way to be certain was to keep talking to him. "You enjoy the race?"

"Yeah, it was alright. I got here after you started, but I saw most of it. Giant gumballs, exploding cakes – 'Cherry Bombs', that's pretty clever – it's all happening here. Which is good, 'cause not much was going on in my city." He spotted something over her shoulder that made him raise his eyebrows. "By the way, that pink girl you beat? She's giving you a look that could sour that milk lake I saw on the way here. Something tells me she's not happy about losing..."

Vanellope looked over and saw Taffyta stood by her car, simmering with frustration. This dissipated when she saw the new Turbo. _Sugar_ _Rush_ was used to Ralph, Felix and Calhoun, but few others. Taffyta frowned, raising her arms as if asking for an explanation. The other racers wandered over to her, followed by Sour Bill. They had all seen X-Turbo, and they all looked as puzzled as Taffyta was. Vanellope turned back to X-Turbo.

"Sorry, could you wait here a sec?"

"Sure thing," he replied, shrugging. "You'd better tell 'em I come in peace. Don't want 'em to get the wrong idea, or anything."

Vanellope wondered what he meant by that, but decided it could wait. She ran over to Taffyta.

"Who's that guy?" Taffyta asked. "He looks like someone I saw on the game opposite."

"Didn't you say that game is based off the one King Candy came from, or something?" asked Jubileena.

Murmurs went up from the group of racers, and they crowded around Vanellope before she had a chance to answer. The other racers' reactions to _TurboTime X_ had been mixed; some were curious, some wanted to wait and see, while others were wary of it. The realisation that a character from the game was visiting was a stir to them all.

"Is he here to check out the competition?" asked Swizzle.

"Oh man, is he the new Turbo?" asked Gloyd.

"Is he gonna take over?" gasped Candlehead.

They all looked at X-Turbo, who waved. They all looked at Vanellope, varying degrees of confused. Vanellope decided it was best to keep them calm.

"He's from that game, yeah, but he says he comes in peace," she explained. "I'm gonna talk to him, so don't you guys get your wrappers in a twist. Sour Bill, could you close for me?" Normally it was her job to congratulate the roster winners and send the citizens home, but Sour Bill said he would do so. She thanked him, and he left with the other racers, though he shot her a curious look before he went, and Taffyta looked back at her with an eyebrow raised. She wasn't annoyed anymore, at the very least.

Vanellope ran back to X-Turbo, Sour Bill's voice droning over her shoulder.

"Sorry 'bout that," she said, though he replied that it was no bother. She looked around. The citizens and the other racers were leaving (which was good, because she'd worried the other racers would come back over). She saw Ralph.

"Good job, kid, that was –"

He stopped in his tracks when he saw X-Turbo. X-Turbo looked at Ralph's enormous hands and tensed slightly, no doubt intimidated by his size, as people sometimes were. Ralph looked confused to see the new Turbo in _Sugar Rush_. He glanced at Vanellope for help, who flashed him a quick peace sign to tell him it was alright. Ralph took this in his stride and smiled at X-Turbo. "Hey, you're the new guy, right? Turbo, from _TurboTime X_?"

X-Turbo relaxed, gauging that Ralph wasn't a threat from his friendliness. He grinned (he had a lot of teeth), spread his arms and spoke:

"That's me! The fastest wheels, the nicest hair, it's all here. _Aaa_nd I have this big T on my jacket, which is probably what tipped ya off really, don't lie. There's another one on the back, too!" He twisted to let them get a good look at it, then turned back around and tilted his head at Ralph. "So, who're you? You the super secret unlockable character, or something?"

Vanellope giggled at the thought of Ralph driving a kart and dodging gumballs and Sweet Seekers like the rest of them. Ralph walked over to her and stood by her side.

"Nah, I'm Wreck-It Ralph, from the game _Fix-It Felix Junior_," he said, extending one colossal hand. "Nice to meet you, and welcome to the arcade!"

When Ralph said his name, X-Turbo's eyebrows lifted and his eyes went a little wide. Had he heard of Ralph before? For a second it seemed like he had. He shook Ralph's hand, thanking him. Vanellope watched them, beginning to wonder if X-Turbo was in her game for reasons other than he had nothing to do in his city. He'd told her to reassure Taffyta and the others, so he must've had a reason for that – had he known him being there would cause a stir? But if he knew that, then he had to know about his older counterpart, and there was no way he could since this was the first time he'd left his game. It was all very confusing to her. She was sure she'd get an answer soon, though.

"And I'm Vanellope von Schweetz!"

She stuck her own hand out. Her name also seemed to have an effect on him. He straightened up and his mouth became a thin line.

"Yeah, I heard the announcer call it when you crossed the finish line." He sounded flat, all of a sudden, but his grin returned before she could think about this. He took her hand delicately, so she grabbed as much of his hand as possible and shook it. "Whoa, don't yank my arm off!" he protested jokingly. "I need it to drive, although it'd make the races more challenging, that's for sure."

"So, uh, if you don't mind me asking, why're you here?" Ralph asked.

X-Turbo looked away for a second, his grin fading, only to return when he looked back.

"It's another racing game," he answered. "After looking at for so long, I thought I'd come over and check it out, see what the other racing games are like compared to mine. From what I've seen, that means bright colours, lots of candy people and karts that shoot each other. Y'know what, I actually like it! My game could use some brighter colours."

Vanellope looked at Ralph, who looked at her. They were both thinking the same thing; they were going to have to explain to X-Turbo what his older counterpart had done. It would be difficult, and awkward, and there was no telling how he'd react to it. It had to be done, however. The sooner he knew, the better.

They looked back at X-Turbo, who suddenly let out a heavy sigh and sagged, his confidence seeming to evaporate out of him. Gone was the grin. Instead, he looked uncomfortable. "But I guess that's not the only reason I'm here." His tone had changed, too. He sounded apprehensive, as if there was something he couldn't avoid. "The main reason is – don't really know how to say this, but I'm here 'cause I want to talk you guys, specifically." The confident mask he'd worn before had lapsed, showing them that behind it all, he was nervous. He held up his hands. "Look, before you get any ideas, I'm not here 'cause I wanna finish what this other version of me started. What he did was sick, and I don't know what kind of guy you have to be to do those things, but _I'm not that guy_." This caught both Vanellope and Ralph off-guard. He knew already? Vanellope had begun to suspect this, but it still came as a shock to her. They exchanged surprised glances, then looked back at X-Turbo. "I'm here because I don't know the full story, and you two are the only people I can get the truth from. That's all I want. The truth about this other me, not matter how sick I know it's gonna be. And, well, I also wanted to tell you guys that no one from my game is like he was, since I figure if there's anyone in the arcade who should know that, it's you two, though I can't really prove that by saying it, which I'm only just realising now I'm actually facing you, which isn't great, a-and..."

"Whoa, buddy, it's fine, we don't judge you," said Ralph.

"Really?" X-Turbo asked, as if he couldn't believe them.

"Yeah," Vanellope agreed. "We talked about it and everything. We're not gonna treat like you're some kinda psychopath, mister."

"That ain't us," Ralph added.

X-Turbo blinked. Then, realising they truly were serious, he let out a sigh of relief.

"_Thanks,_ man. I thought this was gonna be so much tougher, you don't even know..." He wiped sweat from his forehead. Evidently, they had just lifted a tremendous weight from his mind. "A while back some of my game's NPCs left for Game Central, and all of 'em got asked about me, the kind of person I was and stuff like that. They came back and told me about it. At first I thought 'well yeah, I'm the title character, why _wouldn't _people wanna know about me', and you gotta admit, that makes sense. But later I thought about it and, I don't know, it didn't add up. Maybe it's 'cause of what the old guy said – sorry, what's the name of the old guy who runs the arcade?"

"That's Litwak," said Vanellope.

"Litwak, thanks. On my first day, right after I saw you, Litwak said something to my game about how he hoped we wouldn't leave like the old one. I heard him, and I couldn't work out what he meant by 'the old one'. This, along with hearing that people were asking about me made me wonder if there was another _TurboTime X_ we'd replaced. I talked to my city's mayor about it, and he went out to Game Central and tracked down one of the guys who was asking questions. The guy told him that, years ago, there was this other, older _TurboTime, _and that game's Turbo crashed another game for...some reason, didn't say, which got both games unplugged. The mayor asked him what happened to that Turbo, and the guy told him he took over this game, _Sugar Rush_. He said 'Wreck-It Ralph' stopped the other Turbo, saving the life of its real ruler, Vanellope von Schweetz." He looked at Vanellope, and his expression was sad. "Didn't even realise that was you...I mean, I wasn't lying when I said I wanted you to win, so when your picture went up and the announcer said 'Vanellope' I couldn't believe it. The first person I ever saw outside of my game is the same one some other Turbo tried to kill. Just had to laugh at how messed up that coincidence is...wasn't laughing at you the other week, by the way. I just thought it was funny that we'd won at the same time."

"Um..." Vanellope scratched her head, trying to figure out a response. Maybe it would be best if she was honest with him. He seemed to want that, after all. "I was a little weirded out when I saw you," she admitted. "The other Turbo put me through a lot when he was here, stuff I don't even like thinking about. Seeing the arcade get a new version of that guy kinda brought all those memories up."

X-Turbo nodded, seeming to understand.

"Thanks for being honest," he said. "Don't really blame ya for being freaked out..."

"Did they mention bugs?" Ralph asked.

X-Turbo frowned.

"Bugs?" he repeated. His face clouded with confusion. "What did _bugs_ have to do with anything?"

"It's a long story, mister," Vanellope said. "And we're talking giant, evil bugs from _Hero's Duty_."

X-Turbo groaned and wiped some more sweat from his forehead.

"Well I wanna hear what happened, no matter how bad it is. This other Turbo's been holding my game back. The mayor and I talked to the other racers about it, right when they were getting ready to head out to Central, and it made 'em change their minds. They didn't wanna go out 'cause they didn't know how people would react to us." That explained why the _X_-racers hadn't left their game. "Time's passed since then, and we've had some ideas about getting people to see that we're not that bad, but..." He trailed off, deep in thought about something. "Doesn't matter. I don't think everyone's agreed..."

Ralph told him about the old Turbo invading _Roadblasters_, which he'd watched happen from his own game, making him one of the few who had actually witnessed the original 'going Turbo' incident as opposed to being told about it. The more he spoke, the closer X-Turbo's eyebrows moved together and the more lines appeared on his forehead.

"Go...Turbo?" he repeated.

"Uh, well, after the old Turbo did what he did, people started to say you were 'going Turbo' if you abandoned your game for another one. No one else actually did do that – well, except me, sorta – but anyway, it was used as a warning to people. They probably won't say it anymore with you around..."

X-Turbo's fists clenched, anger flashing through him so suddenly it was frightening.

"They'd _better_ stop saying it!" he snarled with a level of ferocity that rivalled his predecessor. "It's my name now, my game's name, and I'm not having people use it as a warning when none of us would do that!"

Vanellope jumped back, and even Ralph seemed shocked by how quick X-Turbo was to anger.

"Buddy, calm down!" he cried. "People know it's your name now, so no one's gonna use it!"

X-Turbo stopped, counted and breathed.

"I'm sorry, it's just...I don't like the thought of me or my guys being associated with something like that. It's sick, levelling a whole other world for what?" He shook his head. "I can understand being angry over being knocked off the top like that, but better to be remembered for what you had than for killing a bunch of people. Nothing's worth that..."

They gave him a moment to regain his composure before they filled in the missing details on King Candy. X-Turbo looked disturbed when they gave him a brief overview of Vanellope's life as a glitch, and by the time Diet Cola Mountain burned his older counterpart to cinders, he was scowling, and it looked like he was ready to blow up again. He didn't, though. Instead, he closed his eyes, counted once more, and slumped. He looked so hurt, that despite how nervous Vanellope had been about him before, she felt bad for him. Ralph did too, because he went over to him and patted him comfortingly on the back (not too hard, because he knew how strong he was).

"Listen, buddy, you're new here, but I've been here thirty years, and I've seen games come and go that've had the same name and the same characters, and not all those characters have turned out to be the same people." When Vanellope had asked about this the day after _TurboTime X_ arrived, he'd given her examples of games that had the same names and characters as past ones; _Street Fighter II _had replaced the original from 1987, bringing with it a new Ryu, Ken and Sagat, and the _DDR _the arcade had was actually its second one. "Besides, if I thought you were gonna be anything like the old Turbo, we wouldn't be having this conversation. I sure wouldn't let you near Vanellope, either."

X-Turbo looked down, then at Vanellope.

"I wouldn't ever do anything like that, okay? I don't know what kind of person you have to be to do that to a kid, but I'm not it."

Vanellope wanted to make him feel better, so she smiled at him and lightly touched his arm.

"I understand, mister. I know you're not like the other Turbo."

This seemed to make him feel better. He brightened up.

"Thanks, both of ya, for being a lot more understanding than I thought you would be. I'm gonna go back to my game and get some rest, I think. This is a lot to take in..."

Ralph said they'd walk with him, so they did. They walked up the rainbow bridge while Vanellope told him the names of the arcade's other racing games, which he seemed interested in.

"There's _Finish Line_, which is a rally-driving game from '96, _Accel Rider_'s a new one with fast motorcycles and – wait, who's that?" She pointed towards a woman dressed in black, who stood at the exit. X-Turbo's eyes lit up with recognition.

"One of mine," he said, and ran over.

She was the same height as X-Turbo, and Caucasian, like him. Her hair was straight, blonde with teal streaks and pulled back in a low ponytail, and her eyes were blue and sharp. She wore a teal bandana with a black star on the front. Her racing suit was black along the sides of her torso and the outsides of her legs, dark grey down the middle of her torso and the insides of her legs, dark grey on the insides of her arms and black on the outsides. Her gloves and shoes were also black.

She didn't notice them right away – she was too busy staring at _Sugar Rush_, the first game she had travelled into. It was quite something to walk out of a city into a world made of candy, even if she glimpsed _Sugar Rush_ every time she won. However, when she did notice X-Turbo coming over to her, her expression filled with concern.

"There you are!" she said. "Did you find out everything you wanted to know?"

X-Turbo nodded.

"I did, and then some. I'll tell you about it when we get home." He turned to Ralph and Vanellope, his confidence having seemingly healed, or maybe he didn't want to look shaken in another racer's presence. Whatever the case, the smirk was back, and he shot the newcomer a cocky look before introducing her. "Ralph, Vanellope, I'd like you to meet Nova, the captain of my cheerleader squad."

Nova laughed at that, the 'I can't believe you just said that' kind of laugh.

"Don't you wish!" she said. "I'm only in your cheerleader squad if the mayor's in it with me." X-Turbo's eyes widened; whatever image this had conjured up was the sort that made his blood run cold, for sure. Nova seized upon his horror gleefully, clapping her hands and bouncing as she drilled it in further: "Ooh, he could braid his beard with pink bows and everything! What fun!"

X-Turbo gagged, which appeared to have been her goal.

"The untold horrors that lurk in your head, devil-woman!" he exclaimed. Nova chuckled and told him he was better off not knowing, which he answered by making a gesture to ward off evil at her. "Okay, you made your point. I should introduce you properly or you'll attack me with..._horrible_ mental images. I'll get you back for that, I swear it!"

Nova smirked, then turned to Ralph and Vanellope.

"Good to meet you," she said. Ralph and Vanellope greeted her, neither entirely sure what to make of their interaction, although Vanellope smirked back a little. "It's a cute little game you've got here. The mayor sent me to check on Captain Wonderpants –" X-Turbo posed heroically when she called him this, raising his fist to the sky, " – and bring him back once he's heard everything." X-Turbo stopped posing, the look on his face suggesting he was still upset by what he'd heard behind all the bravado. Nova's own expression softened towards him, and she spoke with the same level of concern she'd shown before: "You okay? I know whatever you've heard can't be good, but we'll get through it..."

X-Turbo waved his hand, looking away from everyone as he tried his best to act like what he'd been told didn't bother him.

"Thanks, Nove, but I'm fine," he said, his tone suggesting he wasn't. "It's not much more than what we already knew, but...yeah. It's not a happy story." He folded his arms, determination solidifying his voice: "We'll move past it, though. We're our own game and I'm not gonna let some other Turbo change anything about us."

Nova nodded her head in agreement.

"Wouldn't have it any other way," she said, sounding similarly determined. She gestured to Ralph and Vanellope. "So, did you tell them about the idea?"

"Uh, no. I thought about it, but I don't know if everyone's on board."

"Well, they weren't when you left, but we've worked some stuff out, and now it seems like the whole city's excited about it. Some even think you've left because you're gonna tell people."

"What idea?" asked Ralph.

"Basically, we were thinking of holding a race and inviting the arcade to watch," X-Turbo explained. "We wanna show people that we mean well and they have nothing to fear from us. They'll come to our game, have a good time, then word'll spread that _TurboTime X_ is a great place and no one will doubt that."

"We were thinking ten o' clock next Friday," Nova added.

"You two are welcome, definitely," X-Turbo said to Vanellope and Ralph.

"Um, yeah!" Ralph answered, though Vanellope could tell he was mostly just being polite. He looked at her for back up. "That sounds fun?"

"Yeah!" Vanellope exclaimed with enthusiasm that surprised even herself. She couldn't deny a part of her was curious about the new game now that she'd seen the new Turbo wasn't that bad, and she couldn't resist a race no matter what form it came in.

"Getting people to come to the race is a different story, though," said Nova. "I doubt it'll be easy with our game's history."

"We could ask people, if you want," Ralph jumped in. "Our friends Felix and Calhoun would probably be interested."

"And the other racers here," Vanellope added. Who may or may not take some convincing, but she didn't add that much.

Their support seemed to cheer up X-Turbo and Nova.

"If you could help us, we'd be really grateful," said X-Turbo, and Nova agreed. "Guess I'd better leave, then. Thank you for telling me everything, and for understanding, 'cause man, you have no idea how worried I was that you two were gonna hate me. Any help you can give us would be appreciated." He glanced at Nova, then suddenly grinned wickedly and shoved her bandana over her eyes. _"Last one home has to do Street Mode in a Pinto!" _

He laughed and took off through the tunnel, bypassing the rebuilt train.

"_Oh you cheater!_" Nova pushed her bandana up and ran after him, also bypassing the train. She called to Ralph and Vanellope: "Yeah, thanks for your help and everything, now if you'll excuse me I'm gonna kick his ass!" She yelled after X-Turbo: "Hey, Wonderpants! It's nice to have further proof you've gotta cheat to beat me!"

Ralph and Vanellope watched them go. A moment passed. Ralph blinked. Vanellope blinked.

"So...he doesn't seem that bad," said Ralph, turning his head slightly. "Not as bad as you thought he was gonna be, that's for sure."

"Looks like I was all nervy for nothing," Vanellope agreed. She looked at Ralph, dead serious. "If anyone asks, I wasn't _that _nervy."

"Duly noted, Empress Snot-bubble."

"What about this race of theirs? We going?"

"Do you wanna go?"

"Yeah! I mean, I know I was worried about him before, but he doesn't seem that bad, and it's another racing game. Couldn't hurt to check it out."

"Well, only if we can drum up enough support for it, though I'm sure we can find people."

That was a point. If they couldn't get enough people interested, the race might not happen. Then again, X-Turbo hadn't specified how many people they wanted, so maybe any number was enough for him. However, they would still need to ask around.

Vanellope felt better about the new _TurboTime_, though. She grinned.

"Okay. Let's go tell the other racers!"

She sped off, and Ralph followed her. As they passed the Candy Cane Forest on their way to the racers' village, they had no idea they were being watched.


End file.
